Work–family policies have been widely adopted in post-industrial societies. This paper brings the organizational level into the analysis of work–family policy effects on female employees. We theorize that managers' evaluation of female employees' use of parental leave is shaped not only by policy content, but also by labour market structure and the dominant cultural model of household gender relations. Using Japan as a case study, we analyse in-depth interviews with human resource managers in 25 large firms and show that managers' implementation of parental leave and their evaluation of leave-takers occur within the context of norms about ideal employee behaviour in firm-internal labour markets and about the gendered division of care work. These conflicting norms produce managerial expectations that can only be met by a small number of women. The article contributes to theory and research on work–family policies and female employment outcomes in two ways: by demonstrating the critical role of managers, and by showing how labour market structure and associated work norms together with the dominant cultural understanding of household gender relations act as filters through which managers construct their evaluations of employees who take leave.

Brinton’s recent work focuses on the transformation of labor markets in postindustrial societies and the implications for young workers, especially those with less education. Her forthcoming book, Lost in Transition: Youth, Education, and Work in Postindustrial Japan is being published first in Japanese (in fall 2008; NTT Press) in order to reach a broad audience in Japan interested in the difficulties faced by young Japanese men trying to "make it" in an economic environment vastly different from what their fathers faced. The rapid increase in contingent employment and employers’ diminished commitment to "lifetime employment" have produced higher rates of part-time employment and unemployment among Japanese young men than have been seen for many decades. Using original survey data, interviews with urban high school teachers, original data sets on the high school-work transition, and in-depth interviews with a sample of male high school graduates who finished school in the depth of the Japanese recession, Brinton argues for a structural interpretation of the social malaise afflicting 21st-century Japan. She is currently revising the manuscript for an American audience.

Brinton’s recent work focuses on the transformation of labor markets in postindustrial societies and the implications for young workers, especially those with less education. Her forthcoming book, Lost in Transition: Youth, Education, and Work in Postindustrial Japan is being published first in Japanese (in fall 2008; NTT Press) in order to reach a broad audience in Japan interested in the difficulties faced by young Japanese men trying to "make it" in an economic environment vastly different from what their fathers faced. The rapid increase in contingent employment and employers’ diminished commitment to "lifetime employment" have produced higher rates of part-time employment and unemployment among Japanese young men than have been seen for many decades. Using original survey data, interviews with urban high school teachers, original data sets on the high school-work transition, and in-depth interviews with a sample of male high school graduates who finished school in the depth of the Japanese recession, Brinton argues for a structural interpretation of the social malaise afflicting 21st-century Japan. She is currently revising the manuscript for an American audience.

The Declining Significance of Gender? draws together original essays by leading American sociologists and labor economists who examine contemporary patterns of gender inequality in American labor markets and households to make theoretically informed predictions about whether we are headed for a gender-egalitarian future or not. In collaboration with David Grusky (Stanford University) and Francine Blau (Cornell University), Brinton traces the dominant theoretical paradigms governing our understanding of gender inequality in the introductory chapter of the book, and examines the engines of change or stasis inherent in each theoretical approach.